Crime and Punishment (Part 1, Chapter 6)

Summary of “Crime and Punishment” ⭐

Part 1

Chapter 1

Still from the film “Crime and Punishment.” 1969

The main character of the novel, which takes place in the sixties of the 19th century in St. Petersburg, is a poor student Rodion Raskolnikov: a tall, handsome young man with dark brown hair and dark eyes. The young man is in a difficult financial situation: he must pay the landlady of the apartment in which he lives a fairly large sum, but for two days he does not even have enough money to eat properly. The student goes to the old pawnbroker Alena Ivanovna. A plan to kill the old woman has long been ripening in his head, and now he is seriously considering it. He pawns the silver watch, and during a conversation with Alena Ivanovna, he carefully examines her apartment. Raskolnikov tells the old woman that he will come again soon and bring a silver cigarette box to pawn.

Chapter 2

Still from the film “Crime and Punishment.” 1969

On his way home, the young man stops at a cheap drinking establishment. In it, he meets Marmeladov, a titular adviser who discusses the topic of poverty and shares the history of his family with the student. Marmeladov’s wife, an educated woman Katerina Ivanovna, having three children, married him, and he spends all her money on booze. In order for the family to have some money, she forced Marmeladov’s daughter, Sonya, to go to the panel. The man could barely stand on his feet, and Rodion walked him home. The extremely poor decoration of their home surprised the student. Katerina Ivanovna began to scold her husband for drinking his money, and Raskolnikov left, involuntarily leaving them some change on the windowsill.

Analyzing chapters 1-2

The first two chapters establish the setting and introduce some of the novel's major themes. The premise of the story, central St. Petersburg in the 1860s - noisy, smelly and poor - is exactly what Dostoevsky shows us. The summer heat is oppressive and reflects Raskolnikov’s state of consciousness.

Dostoevsky introduces the following themes:

1. Alienation. Alienation can come from within or from society. Raskolnikov becomes so self-absorbed that he isolates himself from society. This contributes to his anxiety and paranoia. Sonya was alienated from a society that considers prostitutes disrespectful.
2. Crime. Raskolnikov's actions at the pawnshop suggest that he is planning a crime and struggling with whether he can carry it through to completion. Dostoevsky focuses on why people commit crimes and how these crimes affect both the victims and the perpetrators.
3. Suffering. Suffering haunts this novel like a ghost. Almost every character in these first two chapters suffers from extreme poverty. Raskolnikov is almost a beggar. Marmeladov and his family face hunger, disease and social shame due to his alcoholism. Marmeladov's bitter faith that God will forgive him, and Sonya's balance between suffering and compassion, is a theme that obsesses Dostoevsky here and in his other works.
4. Morality. Marmeladov's situation contrasts religious morality with the realities of imperfect human behavior. The novel explores several definitions of morality, including Christian, utilitarian, and nihilistic.

Chapter 3

Still from the film “Crime and Punishment.” 1969

The room in which the young man himself lived was a very small room with a low ceiling. Raskolnikov receives a letter from his mother, Pulcheria Alexandrovna. In it, the mother tells Rodion that his sister, Dunya, was offended in the Svidrigailovs’ house, where she worked as a governess. Dunya is a very beautiful, patient and generous girl. She has brown hair and almost black eyes. Svidrigailov, the owner of the house, a man about fifty years old, began to show signs of attention to the girl. His wife Marfa Petrovna noticed her husband's interest in the young governess and began to humiliate her. Also recently, Dunya received a marriage proposal from Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin, a court councilor aged forty-five years old, who had sufficient capital. Pulcheria Alexandrovna and Dunya are planning to come to St. Petersburg in the near future to arrange a wedding as soon as possible.

Chapter 4

After reading the letter, the young man was very upset. He realized that his sister and mother agreed to the wedding only because they needed money. Rodion does not want Dunya to marry Luzhin, but he cannot prohibit the marriage. After this incident, the student thinks even more strongly about killing the old pawnbroker.

Analyzing chapters 3-4

These chapters focus primarily on the suffering of selfless women who are often manipulated by others.

Women who sacrifice themselves include Sonya, who becomes a prostitute for the sake of her family, and Dunya, who faces the prospect of an unhappy marriage in order to help her family. Katerina Ivanovna's life was sacrificed to her husband's alcoholism. Pulcheria and Dunya send Raskolnikov money that they can hardly save.

Women's suffering is often associated with the men who take advantage of them. Pulcheria's letter describes Svidrigailov as a scoundrel. Raskolnikov equates him to a man trying to take advantage of a drunk girl. Luzhin wants a wife who is attractive and educated, but poor so that she can worship him.

Even Raskolnikov, who objects to his sister's self-sacrifice and tries to protect a vulnerable girl, uses women in his own way. He tries to save a drunken girl from danger, but almost sends her back to a terrible fate. All because he is thinking about whether he should help her or not. At least he can recognize her suffering and try to do something about it. The attempt to alleviate or prevent suffering is a theme that Dostoevsky returns to several times throughout Crime and Punishment.

In the fourth chapter Razumikhin appears. Dostoevsky highlights certain aspects of Raskolnikov's personality, contrasting him with Razumikhin. His friendliness, optimism and generosity balance Raskolnikov's aloofness, pessimism and self-absorption.

Chapter 5

Walking around the city, Raskolnikov snacks on a piece of pie and vodka. He quickly gets drunk and falls asleep in the bushes. A young man has a terrible dream, which reflects an incident from his childhood. Then the men beat the old horse to death, but he could not stop them. Running up to the horse, the boy kisses it and, out of anger, attacks the man with his fists. When the young man wakes up, he thinks that perhaps killing the old woman will be beyond his strength. Walking home through the market on Sennaya Square, Raskolnikov sees the pawnbroker’s sister, Lizaveta, who is completely subordinate to the old woman and carries out her instructions all day long. The young man hears Lizaveta’s conversation with the traders. From it he learns that tomorrow at seven in the evening Alena Ivanovna will be home alone. After this he sees a student and an officer; they say that the pawnbroker is not worthy of living, and if she were to die, her money could be used to help poor young people.

Chapter 6

Illustration by M. Shemyakin

At home, the young man begins preparations for murder. He sews a loop for the ax on the inside of the coat, making it so that the ax is not visible while walking. He takes a tablet the size of a cigarette box, wrapped in paper and tied with a ribbon: it will play the role of a pledge in order to distract the old woman. Raskolnikov steals an ax from the janitor's room and goes to Alena Ivanovna's apartment.

Analyzing chapters 5-6

Raskolnikov's sleep is caused by a fever, which is due to his mental state. The themes of suffering and morality are intertwined in the dream—we are shown three different responses to suffering. As a child in a dream, Raskolnikov fondly remembers the village church and its comforting rituals. They symbolize traditional morality, rooted in Christianity, which promotes compassion as the most moral response to suffering. In the dream, Raskolnikov tries to prevent suffering, his father ignores the suffering, and the horse owner adds to it.

Waking up, Raskolnikov is torn. He prays to God and gives up his plan. But by the end of the chapter, he decides to carry out his plans, because he accidentally hears that Alena will be home alone. Having made his decision, he suddenly feels as if committing a crime is inevitable and as if he never had a choice in the matter. At this moment, Raskolnikov seems not only indecisive or conflicted, but also mentally unbalanced.

Alena puts Raskolnikov in front of a moral dilemma. Is someone who causes such suffering worthy of any compassion? Raskolnikov's indecision represents a struggle between old and new morality: he plans cold-blooded murder, which he justifies as a good thing, a fashionable attitude adopted by modern intellectuals. But after the dream, he reconnects with traditional Christian morality, which condemns murder and advocates compassion.

Raskolnikov also theorizes about why criminals always give themselves away using the metaphor of illness and disease. He believes that crime “infects” the criminal with loss of reason and will. Raskolnikov believes that the smallest planning of every detail of the crime can prevent this “disease.” If he kills Alena, it will not affect him because it is not a crime. He's doing the world a favor.

Raskolnikov's views are an example of situational irony, in which his expectations about committing a crime and the reality of his situation actually contradict each other. Raskolnikov believes in his logic and reason and expects them to protect him from detection and guilt. However, his preparation for the crime is incomplete, and his wildly changing mental state suggests that his reason is, in fact, shaky. Thus, the crime already affects him greatly even before he commits it.

Chapter 7

Illustration by D. Shmarinov

The young man was very worried and was afraid that the old woman, noticing his strange behavior, would not allow him to enter. But the pawnbroker took the “cigarette box,” and while she was trying to untie the ribbon, Rodion hit her on the head with the butt of an ax. Afterwards he repeats the blow and realizes that Alena Ivanovna is dead. Taking the keys out of the old woman’s pocket, the young man went to her room. He found her money in the chest and began to put it in his pockets, but at that moment Lizaveta returned home. Raskolnikov, in fear of being seen, kills her with an ax. Realizing what he had done, the young man felt horror, but gradually he begins to come to his senses and washes the blood from his hands, boots and the murder weapon. Getting ready to leave, Rodion hears footsteps coming from the stairs: clients have come to the pawnbroker. After waiting until they leave the house, the student quickly goes home. He puts the ax in the janitor's room, goes into his room and falls on the bed in oblivion.

Analyzing Chapter 7

After six chapters of indecision, Raskolnikov kills Alena. However, the act and its consequences are far from what he imagined. Having killed Alena, he feels under control for a while, but Raskolnikov's plan is completely thwarted with the arrival of Lizaveta. The only reason he kills Lizaveta is to cover up the first murder. Her death does not lead to the benefit of society, as Rodion believed. The murder of Lizaveta destroys Raskolnikov's rationality for the robbery and murder of Alena. However, he does not hesitate for a moment to kill Lizaveta to protect himself, acting no differently than a common criminal.

The situation continues to go differently than Raskolnikov had planned. It becomes more likely that he will be caught, but for better or worse is an open question. After the murder of Lizaveta, Raskolnikov’s logic completely fails him. He focuses intently on small details, such as blood spatter, but fails to notice large ones, such as a door that was left open. Much of his motivation and justification for the crime was to take all of Alena's money, but he only manages to steal one wallet. In the end, he does not escape the criminal's "sickness," and by the time he returns home, he feels "not quite conscious."

Part 2

Chapter 1

Illustration by D. Shmarinov

The next day the young man wakes up only at three o'clock in the afternoon. Remembering the murder, he panics and checks his clothes to make sure there is no blood left on them. Having found the old woman's money and jewelry, he puts them in a hole under the wallpaper in the corner of the room. The apartment owner’s cook, Nastasya, comes to the young man and brings a summons that Raskolnikov must come to the police office. The young man is very worried, but the police called him just to write a receipt with an obligation to pay the debt for living in the apartment. Leaving the station, Rodion hears that the employees are discussing the murder of an old pawnbroker. He faints; the police thought the student was sick and sent him home. At home, Raskolnikov is afraid that he might be searched and decides to hide what he took from Alena Ivanovna’s apartment under a stone in the empty yard. After this, the young man returns home. From his experiences he falls ill and spends several days delirious.

Chapters 2-4

When the main character regained consciousness, he saw that Razumikhin, his friend from the university, a tall, smart young man, had come to him. He says that policeman Zametov visited Raskolnikov several times. Also during these days, he received money to pay for the apartment, sent by his mother. Soon another good friend comes to the young man - Zosimov, a medical student. From his story about the murder of an old pawnbroker, Rodion learns that the investigation has no reliable evidence, but there are several suspects, including the dyer Mikola.

Chapter 5

Illustration by D. Shmarinov

After some time, Luzhin visits Raskolnikov's room. The student tells Pyotr Petrovich that he wants to take Dunya as his wife only so that she will thank him all her life for getting rid of poverty. The man does not agree with Raskolnikov, after which the young man drives him away. Soon Rodion's friends also leave his house. Razumikhin believes that there is something burdensome on his friend’s mind and worries about him.

Chapter 6

Soon Raskolnikov enters the tavern and sees Zametov there. The friends talk about murder, and Rodion tells how he would act if he were a murderer. The young man asks Zametov what he would do if he really committed the crime, almost directly admitting to what he had done. However, Zametov does not believe in his comrade’s guilt. While walking around St. Petersburg, the young man wanted to drown himself, but changed his mind and unknowingly went to the pawnbroker's house. There he discusses the crime with the workers who are doing the repairs, and they decide that the young man is crazy.

Chapter 7

Next, Rodion heads to Razumikhin and on the way meets a crowd of people who have gathered around the drunken Marmeladov, who was hit by a carriage. He is carried home, and there the man dies in the arms of his daughter Sonya. The student gives all the money he has to the adviser's family to organize his father's funeral. Then Raskolnikov goes to Razumikhin, who accompanies him home. Approaching the house where the main character lived, the friends notice the light in the windows of his room.

Part 3

Chapters 1-2

It turns out that Raskolnikov’s mother and sister came to see him. Seeing them, the young man fainted. Having come to his senses, the young man talks with Dunya about Luzhin and insists on refusing the wedding. The young man immediately liked the beautiful Dunya. The next morning he goes to the hotel to visit her and his mother. Pulcheria Alexandrovna tells him about the letter he received from Luzhin in the morning. He says that he wants to see her and Dunya, but asks to organize a meeting without Rodion’s presence.

Chapters 3-4

In the morning, the women come to Raskolnikov and tell him about Luzhin’s letter; Dunya believes that her brother must be with her during the meeting with the groom. At this time, Sonya Marmeladova comes to the student’s apartment and invites him to her father’s funeral. Raskolnikov introduces her to her family, despite the fact that because of her reputation the girl cannot communicate with them on equal terms. Sonya goes home and on the way notices the pursuit of some stranger, who turns out to be her neighbor (by coincidence, he turned out to be Svidrigailov).

Chapter 5

Still from the film “Crime and Punishment.” 1969

Razumikhin and Raskolnikov go to the investigator working on the murder of an old pawnbroker. Rodion wants to find out how he can get the things left as pawn from the old woman, and learns that he needs to submit an application. Suddenly, Porfiry Petrovich remembers an article that Raskolnikov wrote not so long ago. It says that people are divided into ordinary people, who do not have the right to break the law, and extraordinary people, who are allowed to commit crimes. The investigator asks whether Rodion considers himself to be extraordinary, whether he is capable of committing a crime, and receives an affirmative answer. Afterwards, Porfiry Petrovich asks if the young man saw the dyers in the old woman’s house. The young man, after hesitating, answers that he did not see. Razumikhin intervenes, saying that the dyers were working on the day of the murder, and the young man was there a couple of days before. After this, the students leave.

Chapter 6

Near the house, Raskolnikov met a stranger who called him a murderer and left without explaining anything. In Rodion’s room, the fever begins again. He dreams of a mysterious stranger calling him to the old woman's apartment; the young man hits her on the head with an ax, but she laughs. The young man wants to run away, but he is surrounded by a crowd of people. Raskolnikov wakes up and Svidrigailov comes to him.

Part 4

Chapters 1-3

He asks the student to arrange a date with Dunya under the pretext that he would like to give the girl ten thousand for all the troubles caused to her in his house. Rodion refuses. In the evening, Raskolnikov and Razumikhin go to see Pulcheria Alexandrovna and Dunya. Luzhin, unhappy that the bride did not take into account his request, refuses to discuss the wedding under Rodion. Dunya drives him away.

Chapter 4

Still from the film “Crime and Punishment.” 1969

Soon the young man comes to Sonya. She says that she cannot leave her father's wife and children, who will die of hunger without her help. Raskolnikov bows at her feet, saying that the bow is addressed not only to her, but to all human suffering. The student sees that the New Testament is on the table and asks to read to him about the resurrection of Lazarus. Before leaving, Rodion promises that tomorrow he will come again and tell who killed the old money-lender. At this time, Svidrigailov is in the next room and overhears the entire conversation.

Chapters 5-6

The next day the young man goes to Porfiry Petrovich to pick up his things. The investigator tries to check him, and Raskolnikov, irritated, asks Porfiry to say whether he considers him guilty. However, the man avoids answering, and then the dyer Mikola is brought in, who confesses to the murder of Alena Ivanovna. Rodion goes home and again sees the stranger who called him a murderer. He says that Porfiry asked him about this, and now he repents. Raskolnikov’s soul becomes calmer.

Part 5

Chapters 1-3

According to Luzhin, her brother is to blame for his quarrel with Dunya. Wanting to take revenge on him, he asks Lebezyatnikov, his roommate, to call Sonya to him. Luzhin tells the girl that he will not be able to come to her father's funeral and gives her ten rubles. It seems to Lebezyatnikov that Luzhin is up to something. Many people did not come to Marmeladov’s wake. Katerina Ivanovna quarrels with the owner of the apartment. At this time, Luzhin arrives and declares that Sonya stole a hundred rubles from him, calling Lebezyatnikov as a witness. Sonya denies this accusation and gives Pyotr Petrovich ten rubles. Katerina turns out the pockets of Sonya’s clothes, and a hundred-ruble bill falls out of them. Lebezyatnikov tells everyone that Luzhin himself slipped Sonya this money. Pyotr Petrovich gets angry, and the landlady kicks Katerina and the children out of the apartment.

Chapters 4-5

After this, Rodion goes to Sonya and tells her that he knows the killer and he accidentally killed Lizaveta. The girl understood everything and said that there was no one more unhappy than Raskolnikov. Sonya is ready to go with him even to hard labor. She believes that she needs to confess to the murder, and then God will be able to forgive the young man. Lebezyatnikov comes to Sonya and reports that Katerina has gone crazy; the woman is brought to Sonya's apartment and she dies. Svidrigailov, who is nearby, tells Raskolnikov that he will give money for Katerina’s funeral, arrange the children’s future and help Sonya. He asks the young man to tell Duna that this is how he will spend the ten thousand that he did not give her.

Part 6

Chapters 1-6

Still from the film “Crime and Punishment.” 1969

Soon Porfiry Petrovich comes to the young man and says that he suspects him of murder. However, there is no evidence, and the investigator advises Raskolnikov to come to the station himself and confess everything. The student wants to talk to Svidrigailov, and he says that he was in love with Dunya, but now he has a fiancee. After this, Svidrigailov secretly meets with Dunya, telling her everything he heard from the conversations between Sonya and Raskolnikov. A man tells a girl that he will save her brother in exchange for her love. Dunya wants to leave, but the door is locked; She shoots Svidrigailov several times with a revolver, but misses. He gives her the key, and the girl leaves the revolver and leaves. Returning to the apartment, the man comes to Sonya and gives her three thousand rubles, because he knows that the money will be needed when she goes to hard labor for Raskolnikov. Svidrigailov goes to the hotel, and at dawn he commits suicide by shooting himself in the head with Dunya’s revolver.

Chapters 7-8

Raskolnikov finally decided to confess to the murder and says goodbye to his sister and mother. He goes to Sonya, who gives him a cross and tells him that he needs to kiss the ground at the crossroads. Rodion fulfills the girl’s request, after which he goes to the investigator and says that he is the old woman’s killer. He is informed about Svidrigailov's suicide.

Epilogue

Raskolnikov is sentenced to eight years of hard labor. His mother fell ill, and Dunya and Razumikhin take her out of the city. Pulcheria Ivanovna thinks that her son has left. Sonya goes to Siberia following Rodion. Razumikhin marries Duna; the young people also plan to go to Siberia in a few years. In hard labor, Raskolnikov is considered an atheist, but Sonya, who comes to him, is loved. Soon the young man falls ill and ends up in the hospital. Sonya often visits him. The young man thinks about his fate and understands that pride can only lead to death. The next time Sonya came to him, he began hugging her legs. The girl was scared at first, but then realized that he loved her very much.

Crime and Punishment (Part 6, Chapter

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PART SIX

VIII

When he entered Sonya’s room, dusk was already beginning. Sonya waited for him all day in terrible excitement. They waited with Dunya. She came to her in the morning, remembering Svidrigailov’s words yesterday that Sonya “knows about this.” We will not convey the details of the conversation and the tears of both women, and how much they agreed with each other. Dunya at least took one consolation from this meeting, that her brother would not be alone: ​​it was to her, Sonya, that he came first with his confession; in her he looked for a person when he needed a person; she will follow him wherever fate sends. She didn't ask, but she knew it would be like this. She even looked at Sonya with a kind of reverence and at first almost embarrassed her with this reverent feeling with which she treated her. Sonya was almost ready to cry: on the contrary, she considered herself unworthy to even look at Dunya. The beautiful image of Dunya, when she bowed to her with such attention and respect during their first date with Raskolnikov, has since remained forever in her soul, as one of the most beautiful and unattainable visions in her life.

Dunechka finally couldn’t bear it anymore and left Sonya to wait for her brother in his apartment; It seemed to her that he would get there first. Left alone, Sonya immediately began to suffer from fear at the thought that perhaps he would actually commit suicide. Dunya was afraid of the same thing. But both of them spent the whole day vying with each other to dissuade each other with all the arguments that this could not be, and were calmer while they were together. Now, having just separated, both of them began to think only about this one thing. Sonya recalled how yesterday Svidrigailov told her that Raskolnikov had two roads - Vladimirka or... She also knew his vanity, arrogance, pride and disbelief. “Can it really be that cowardice and fear of death alone can make him live?” - she finally thought in despair. Meanwhile, the sun was already setting. She stood sadly in front of the window and looked intently at it, but through the window only one solid unwhitened wall of the neighboring house was visible. Finally, when she had reached the point of complete conviction that the unfortunate man was dead, he entered her room.

A joyful cry escaped from her chest. But, looking intently into his face, she suddenly turned pale.

- Well, yes! - Raskolnikov said, grinning, - I’m behind your crosses, Sonya. You yourself sent me to the crossroads; Well now, how did it come to this, and got cold feet?

Sonya looked at him in amazement. This tone seemed strange to her; a cold shiver ran through her body, but after a minute she realized that both the tone and these words were all feigned. He spoke to her, looking somehow into the corner and as if avoiding looking straight into her face.

“You see, Sonya, I decided that this way would probably be more profitable.” There is a circumstance here... Well, it’s a long story, but there’s nothing to it. Just, you know what makes me angry? I’m annoyed that all these stupid, brutal hari will surround me now, they will stare their eyes straight at me, ask me their stupid questions that need to be answered, they will point their fingers... Ugh! You know, I’m not going to Porfiry; I'm tired of him. I’d rather go to my friend Porokh, I’ll surprise you, or I’ll achieve an effect of my own kind. But we should be more cool-blooded; I've become too jaundiced lately. Would you believe it: I almost shook my fist at my sister just because she turned around to look at me for the last time. Pissiness is such a state! Oh, what have I come to! Well, where are the crosses?

It was as if he was not himself. He could not even stand still for one minute; he could not concentrate his attention on a single object; his thoughts jumped one after another, he started talking; his hands trembled slightly.

Sonya silently took two crosses from the box, a cypress and a copper one, crossed herself, crossed him and put the cypress cross on his chest.

- This means that I am taking the cross upon myself, hehe! And sure enough, I still haven’t suffered much! Cypress, that is, common; copper - this is Lizavetin, you take it for yourself - show me? So he was wearing it... at that moment? I also know two similar crosses, a silver one and an icon. I then threw them onto the old woman’s chest. If only they would come in handy now, really, I should put them on... But anyway, I’m lying, I’ll forget about the matter; I’m somehow distracted!.. You see, Sonya, I actually came then to notify you, so that you would know... Well, that’s all... I only came then. (Hm, I, however, thought I would say more.) But you yourself wanted me to go, so I’ll sit in prison, and your wish will come true; Well, why are you crying? And you too? Stop it, that's enough; oh, how hard this is for me!

The feeling, however, was born in him; his heart sank, looking at her. “This one, this one, what? - he thought to himself, - what am I to her? Why is she crying, why is she gathering me, like a mother or Dunya? The nanny will be mine!”

“Cross yourself, pray at least once,” Sonya asked in a trembling, timid voice.

- Oh, please, as much as you like! And from the bottom of my heart, Sonya, from the bottom of my heart...

He wanted, however, to say something else.

He crossed himself several times. Sonya grabbed her scarf and threw it over her head. It was a green draped shawl, probably the same one that Marmeladov mentioned then, “the family one.” Raskolnikov had a thought about this, but he did not ask. Indeed, he himself began to feel that he was terribly absent-minded and somehow terribly alarmed. He was afraid of this. He was suddenly struck by the fact that Sonya wanted to leave with him.

- What you! Where are you going? Stay, stay! “I’m alone,” he cried in cowardly annoyance and, almost embittered, went to the door. - Why is there a whole retinue here? - he muttered as he walked out.

“Is it so, is it all true? - he thought again, coming down the stairs, - is it really impossible to stop and move everything again... and not walk?

But he still walked. He suddenly felt completely that there was no point in asking himself questions. Going out into the street, he remembered that he had not said goodbye to Sonya, that she remained in the middle of the room, in her green scarf, not daring to move from his shout, and he paused for a moment. At the same instant, one thought suddenly brightly illuminated him, as if waiting to hit him completely.

“Well, why, why did I come to her now? I told her: get to work; for what purpose? There was no business at all! Announce that I am coming; so what? What a need! Do I love her? No, no? After all, now he drove her away like a dog. Did I really need Krestov from her? Oh, how low I have fallen! No, I needed her tears, I needed to see her frightened, to see how her heart hurt and was tormented! It was necessary to at least catch on something, slow down, look at the person! And I dared to rely so much on myself, to dream about myself so much, poor me, insignificant me, scoundrel, scoundrel!”

He walked along the embankment of the ditch, and he had only a short distance left. But having reached the bridge, he paused and suddenly turned onto the bridge, to the side, and went towards Sennaya.

He eagerly looked around to right and left, peered intensely at every object and could not concentrate his attention on anything; everything slipped out. “In a week, in a month, they’ll take me somewhere in these prisoner’s carriages across this bridge, and then one day I’ll look at this ditch—would I remember this? - flashed through his head. - Here is this sign, how will I then read these very letters? Here it is written: “Partnership”, well, remember this a, the letter a, and look at it in a month, at this very a: how will I look at it then? What will I feel and think then?.. God, how low it all must be, all these current... worries of mine! Of course, all this must be interesting... in its own way... (ha-ha-ha! what am I thinking about!) I'm becoming a child, I'm making fanfare in front of myself; Why am I ashamed of myself? Phew, how they push! This fat guy - a German, it must be - who pushed me: well, does he know who he pushed? A woman with a child begs for alms; it’s curious that she considers me happier than herself. Well, let’s just serve it up as a curiosity. Bah, the nickel survived in my pocket, where did it come from? Here, here... take it, mother!”

- God bless you! - the mournful voice of the beggar was heard.

He entered the Haymarket. It was unpleasant, very unpleasant for him to encounter people, but he walked exactly to where the most people could be seen. He would give everything in the world to be left alone; but he himself felt that he would not be alone for a single minute. One drunk in the crowd was acting up: he kept wanting to dance, but he kept falling over to the side. They surrounded him. Raskolnikov pushed his way through the crowd, looked at the drunk for several minutes and suddenly burst out laughing briefly and abruptly. A minute later he had already forgotten about him, did not even see him, although he looked at him. He finally walked away, not even remembering where he was; but when he reached the middle of the square, one movement suddenly happened to him, one sensation took possession of him at once, captured him completely - with body and thought.

He suddenly remembered Sonya’s words: “Go to the crossroads, bow to the people, kiss the ground, because you have sinned against it, and tell the whole world out loud: “I am a murderer!” He trembled all over, remembering this. And the hopeless melancholy and anxiety of all this time, but especially the last hours, had already crushed him to such an extent that he rushed into the possibility of this whole, new, complete sensation. It suddenly came to him like a fit: it ignited in his soul with one spark and suddenly, like fire, it engulfed everything. Everything in him softened at once, and tears flowed. As he stood, he fell to the ground...

He knelt down in the middle of the square, bowed to the ground and kissed this dirty earth with pleasure and happiness. He stood up and bowed another time.

- Look, you've had enough! - one guy noticed next to him.

There was laughter.

“He’s going to Jerusalem, brothers, with his children, saying goodbye to his homeland, bowing to the whole world, kissing the capital city of St. Petersburg and its soil,” added one of the drunken townsfolk.

- The boy is still young! - screwed up the third.

- From the noble ones! - someone remarked in a respectable voice.

“But you can’t tell who’s noble and who’s not.”

All these responses and conversations restrained Raskolnikov, and the words “I killed,” perhaps preparing to fly from his tongue, froze in him. He calmly, however, endured all these screams and, without looking back, walked straight through the alley towards the office. One vision flashed before him on the way, but he was not surprised by it; he already had a presentiment that this was how it should be. While he, on Sennaya, bowed to the ground another time, turning to the left, fifty steps away from himself, he saw Sonya. She was hiding from him behind one of the wooden barracks that stood in the square, which means she accompanied his entire mournful procession! Raskolnikov felt and understood at that moment, once and for all, that Sonya was now with him forever and would follow him to the ends of the earth, wherever fate led him. His whole heart turned upside down... but - now he had reached the fatal place...

He entered the yard quite cheerfully. We had to go up to the third floor. “I’ll still get up,” he thought. In general, it seemed to him that the fateful moment was still far away, there was still a lot of time left, there was still a lot to change his mind about.

Again the same rubbish, the same shells on the spiral staircase, again the doors of the apartments are wide open, again the same kitchens from which smoke and stench emanate. Raskolnikov has not been here since then. His legs went numb and gave way, but he walked. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, to recover, to enter as a man. "And for what? For what? - he thought suddenly, comprehending his movement. - If you really have to drink this cup, then does it really matter? The nastier, the better. “At that moment the figure of Ilya Petrovich Porokh flashed in his imagination. - Really really go to him? Is it possible to go to someone else? Is it possible to see Nikodim Fomich? Should I turn around now and go to the warden’s own apartment? At least he can do it at home... No, no! To Gunpowder, to Gunpowder! Drink, drink it all at once..."

Feeling cold and barely remembering himself, he opened the door to the office. This time there were very few people in it, there was some kind of janitor and some other commoner. The watchman did not even look out of his partition. Raskolnikov walked into the next room. “Maybe it will be possible not to talk yet,” flashed through him. Here one of the scribes, in a private frock coat, was getting ready to write something at the bureau. Another clerk was sitting in the corner. Zametov was not there. Nikodim Fomich, of course, was not there either.

- Nobody here? - Raskolnikov asked, turning to the person at the bureau.

- Who do you want?

- A-ah-ah! You can’t hear it by ear, you can’t see it by sight, but the Russian spirit... like it’s in a fairy tale... I’ve forgotten! M-mae p-patter! - suddenly a familiar voice cried out.

Raskolnikov trembled. Gunpowder stood in front of him; he suddenly came out of the third room. “This is fate itself,” thought Raskolnikov, “why is he here?

than I can. I confess to you... how? How? Sorry…

- Raskolnikov.

- Well: Raskolnikov! And could you really imagine that I forgot! Please, don’t consider me like that... Rodion Ro... Ro... Rodionich, so it seems?

- Rodion Romanych.

- Yes Yes Yes! Rodion Romanych, Rodion Romanych! This is what I was trying to achieve. I even managed it many times. I confess to you that since then I have sincerely grieved that we were like this then... They explained to me later, I learned that he was a young writer and even a scientist... and, so to speak, his first steps... Oh God! Who among the writers and scientists did not initially take original steps! My wife and I both respect literature, and my wife is so passionate about it!.. Literature and artistry! He would be noble, but everything else can be acquired by talent, knowledge, reason, genius! Hat - well, what does a hat mean, for example? Damn the hat, I’ll buy it from Zimmerman; but what is stored under the hat and covered with a hat, I won’t buy it, sir! do you need anything? They say your relatives have come to see you?

- Yes, mother and sister.

“I even had the honor and happiness of meeting your sister, an educated and charming person.” I admit, I regretted that we got so excited then. Incident! And then, regarding your fainting, I looked at you with a certain glance - then it was explained in the most brilliant way! Fanaticism and fanaticism! I understand your indignation. Maybe you are changing apartments because of the arrival of your family?

- N-no, I just... I came to ask... I thought I would find Zametov here.

- Oh yes! After all, you have become friends; I heard, sir. Well, we don’t have Zametov, we didn’t find him. Yes, sir, we have lost Alexander Grigorievich! No cash available since yesterday; crossed... and while crossing, he even quarreled with everyone... it’s even impolite... A flighty boy, nothing more; could even give hope; Yes, come with them, with our brilliant youth! Somebody wants to take an exam, but all we have to do is talk and show off, and that’s how the exam will end. After all, this is not what, for example, you said there, Mr. Razumikhin, your friend! Your career is the academic part, and you will no longer be derailed by failure! All these beauties of life, one might say, are for you - nihil est, ascetic, monk, hermit!.. For you, a book, a pen behind your ear, scientific research - this is where your spirit soars! I myself partly... did you deign to read Livingston’s notes?

- No.

- I read it. Today, however, a lot of nihilists have spread; Well, yes, it’s understandable; What are the times, I ask you? But I’m with you... because you, of course, are not a nihilist! Answer frankly, frankly!

- N-no...

- No, you know, you are open with me, you are not shy, as if in private! Service is another matter, another thing... you thought I wanted to say: friendship, no, sir, you didn’t guess! Not friendship, but a feeling of a citizen and a person, a feeling of humanity and love for the Almighty. I can be an official or in a position, but I am always obliged to feel that I am a citizen and a person in myself and give an account... You deigned to talk about Zametov. Zametov, he will create a scandal in the French style in an indecent establishment, over a glass of champagne or Don wine - that’s what your Zametov is! And I, perhaps, so to speak, burned out from devotion and high feelings, and on top of that I have importance, rank, and occupy a place! Married and have children. I am fulfilling the duty of a citizen and a person, but who is he, may I ask? I treat you as a person ennobled by education. These midwives are also spreading too much.

Raskolnikov raised his eyebrows questioningly. The words of Ilya Petrovich, who had apparently recently left the table, clattered and fell in front of him for the most part like empty sounds. But he still somehow understood some of them; he looked questioningly and did not know how it would all end.

“I’m talking about these bobbed girls,” continued the talkative Ilya Petrovich, “I nicknamed them midwives on my own behalf and I find that the nickname is completely satisfactory.” Heh! heh! They go to the academy, study anatomy; Well, tell me, I’m going to get sick, should I call the girl to treat me? Heh! heh!

Ilya Petrovich laughed, quite pleased with his witticisms.

- Let’s say the thirst for enlightenment is immoderate; but he was enlightened, and that’s enough. Why abuse it? Why insult noble individuals, as the scoundrel Zametov does? Why did he insult me, I ask you? You can’t imagine how many more of these suicides have spread. All this is spent on the last money and kills himself. Girls, boys, elders... Just this morning it was reported about some gentleman who recently arrived. Nil Pavlych, and Nil Pavlych! How did he, the gentleman who was reported just now, shoot himself on Petersburgskaya?

Raskolnikov shuddered.

- Svidrigailov! Svidrigailov shot himself! - he cried.

- How! Do you know Svidrigailov?

- Yes... I know... He arrived recently...

of sound mind and asks not to blame anyone for his death. This one, they say, had money. How do you want to know?

- I... know... my sister lived in their house as a governess...

- I saw him yesterday... he... drank wine... I didn’t know anything.

Raskolnikov felt as if something had fallen on him and crushed him.

“Yes, I have to go,” muttered Raskolnikov, “sorry, I bothered you...

- Oh, for mercy's sake, as much as you like! The pleasure was delivered and I am pleased to say...

Ilya Petrovich even extended his hand.

- I just wanted... I went to Zametov...

“I’m... very glad... goodbye, sir...” Raskolnikov smiled.

He went out; he was rocking. His head was spinning. He couldn't feel if he was standing. He began to walk down the stairs, resting his right hand on the wall. It seemed to him that some janitor, with a book in his hand, pushed him, climbing up to meet him in the office; that some little dog was baying and barking somewhere on the lower floor and that some woman threw a rolling pin at it and screamed. He went downstairs and went out into the yard. Here in the courtyard, not far from the exit, stood Sonya, pale and completely dead, and looked at him wildly, wildly. He stopped in front of her. Something sick and exhausted was expressed in her face, something desperate. She clasped her hands. An ugly, lost smile squeezed out on his lips. He stood there, grinned, and turned upstairs, back to the office.

Ilya Petrovich sat down and rummaged through some papers. Standing in front of him was the same man who had just pushed Raskolnikov while climbing the stairs.

- Uh-huh? You again! Did you leave anything?.. But what happened to you?

- You feel sick, chair! Here, sit on the chair, sit down! Water!

Raskolnikov sank into a chair, but did not take his eyes off the face of the very unpleasantly surprised Ilya Petrovich. Both looked at each other for a minute and waited. They brought water.

“It’s me...” Raskolnikov began.

- Drink some water.

“It was I who killed the old official and her sister Lizaveta with an ax and robbed them.

Ilya Petrovich opened his mouth. They came running from all sides.

Raskolnikov repeated his testimony. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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